On May 19, 2023, Minnesota Africans United in partnership with the World’s Fair Fund hosted a reception for the African Diplomat Corp in Washington D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel in to leverage the momentum that was successfully harvested from last December’s U.S-Africa Leaders’ Summit. The event featured authentic American stories from African diaspora Leaders who are Succeeding in the US and Giving Back to their Mother Countries in Africa-modeling future Two-way Trade opportunities between Africa and the United States. Other VIPs in attendance were our U.S. State Department partners from Prosper Africa and the International Expo Unit.
In addition, the African Diplomat Reception featured the U.S. bid to host the 2027 World's Fair in Minnesota.
The program featured Minnesota Leaders including:
Basil Ajuo, President/CEO, Minnesota Africans United
Abdirahman Kahin- Founder/Owner- Afro Deli and Grill, U.S. Small Business Association Businessperson of the Year (2023)
Dr. Chris Brooks- Co-founder/Managing Partner- Brown Venture Group
Representative of the Vice-Dean of the African Diplomats, Deputy Ambassador Lawrence Manzi of the Embassy of Rwanda to the U.S.
U.S. State Department- Prosper Africa- Chief of Staff, Rebecca Hopkins
U.S. State Department- International Expositions Unit- Acting Director Kara Snesko.
Other VIPs from the State Department included:
U.S. State Department- T'Errance Favors, Coordinator, Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)
U.S. State Department- International Expositions Unit- Crystal Rabizadeh
U.S. State Department-Hamse Warfa, Senior Advisory for Equity and Inclusive Democracy
The program ended with a recognition to the African Diplomat Leaders.